YOUR CHANCE TO COMMENT
Help shape Stapleford Parish Council’s response to plans to remove 10ha from local greenbelt for development
In another article posted on the Parish Council’s website and published in the October edition of Stapleford Messenger, our South Cambs. District Councillor, Peter Fane (Lib Dem), provided an update on draft Local Plan proposals to remove from greenbelt a 10ha site behind Mingle Lane and Hinton Way and make it available for housing development.
Of the hundreds of sites put forward in 2020 for consideration, this is the only one in our immediate area which is proposed to be included in the new Local Plan. It will now be subject to a public consultation running from 1st November to 13th December 2021.
Your chance to influence Stapleford Parish Council’s consultation response
Stapleford Parish Council’s consultation response should reflect the desires and concerns of parish residents. To understand your views both for and against development at Mingle Lane/Hinton Way, we are inviting Stapleford parishioners to email comments to Stapleford Parish Council. Great Shelford parishioners should contact Great Shelford Parish Council with their comments. It will also be possible for parishioners to respond in less detail to forthcoming posts on Great Shelford & Stapleford Community Facebook page by Stapleford Parish Council about the consultation.
What to focus on
It is very important to understand that the consultation is only concerned with assessing the appropriateness of the site for development. Any comments which do not address this specific criterion cannot be considered in either the Parish Council’s response or by Greater Cambridge Shared Planning if you respond directly to them. If the Mingle Lane/Hinton Way site continues to be included in the Local Plan after the consultation, there will then be opportunities to debate what type of housing would best meet local needs and how many houses the site is suitable for.
Note that the appropriateness of all sites is evaluated against set criteria: infrastructure (transport, travel, energy, health, education, etc); impact on climate change; biodiversity and green spaces (including greenbelt); jobs (existing and future); housing needs; wellbeing and social inclusion; ‘great places’ (sustaining and enhancing the character and quality of places); fit with agreed spatial growth strategy. A webinar about the evidence base behind sites put forward for development is planned for November, but at the time of writing its date has yet to be released.
Exceptional circumstances for greenbelt release
Having been assessed against these factors, the Mingle Lane/Hinton Way site was one of only four greenbelt sites which was considered to display the exceptional circumstances required to justify releasing it from greenbelt. It is “Very well located in relation to [the] existing railway station, with resulting excellent access to Cambridge, and to Cambridge Biomedical Campus once the new Cambridge South station is open…” It is the view of the draft Local Plan that the site fits with the aim that “We want our rural villages to continue to thrive and sustain their local services, but we don’t want to encourage lots of new homes in places where car travel is the easiest or only way to get around. We therefore propose some development in and around larger villages that have good transport links and services, and to support important employment clusters.” Note that no consideration of proximity to the busway across greenbelt proposed by Greater Cambridge Partnership was made in assessing the Mingle Lane/Hinton Way site because this has not yet received planning permission.
To find out more…
The full library of Greater Cambridge Local Plan first proposals documents is available at https://consultations.greatercambridgeplanning.org/greater-cambridge-local-plan-preferred-options/supporting-documents.
Get in touch
We look forward to hearing from Stapleford residents. Please submit comments to clerk@staplefordparishcouncil.gov.uk or post to B. Irons, Stapleford Parish Council, 14 Crawley End, Chrishall, SG8 8QL, by 30th November 2021 and include your address.
